It was a good hike, only .75 mile or so as the crow flies, but through unimproved forest with about 600 feet elevation gain.

It took us a little while to locate the wreck, but once we did we got a couple GPS points saved of it.

We immediately started to dismantle it and once we got a bunch of parts laying around we packed up what we could and took off about 1pm, just in time to beat the storm to the trees on the other side of the ridge and enjoyed a gentle rain as we descended back to the cars.

Theboomboom had a run-in with a knife, that was the only real excitement of the day. Hope he's okay. He stabbed his finger with my very new Spyderco, which has a pretty wicked sharp blade, and I was able to put my EFR training from Hatfield's SCUBA place to good use, though I could have been a little more level-headed and done a little better job. BUT - adequate care received is better than perfect care withheld, so it should be fine.

We didn't get the whole thing; not sure there's going to be any interest to head up there again this year, and we're going to have to do some figuring to think of the best way to get the heavy parts (4 tires, engine and frame) out of where it is. Not an easy task. Will post up pics in a bit.

What needs to happen next is to figure out how this project will be finished. That engine/chassic combo weighs an awful lot (200-300 lb. range). Even if we were to dismantle the engine from the frame, one person alone would probably have a heck of a time carrying it. And then the frame is so big that it would be hard to get out too. Brant was wondering if we could get up there again this fall before it snowed, I told him probably not. It's not going anywhere, we'll probably plan for something next summer.

In the meantime, I would like to try and figure out a way to get four tires (they are big and fairly heavy), an engine and a frame out of there. We tried a litter for the tires, but that would be a difficult task because the forest is dense enough it would be hard to walk in that position (too wide), especially with one person on each corner. And the hill to climb up to the ridge is pretty steep, not fun when you have four people pushing/pulling against each other. Getting an ATV up there to winch from the top would be a very difficult task and Brant pretty much said no. If you could guide a horse through the woods okay, then that would be possible, but still it's pretty steep. Going downhill to the road is very steep through dense trees and fallen trees etc. If we can get tubular framed packs and hack the frame to pieces we could carry it out that way. The engine oil would have to be drained but then it could be dismantled, at least into smaller more manageable pieces.

I dunno. We have time; I don't think I will have a chance to get up there again before the snow flies. I have a lot to do to get ready for winter.